US Utilities Plan 24 GW of New Battery Storage in 2026 as Interconnection Waits Stretch

BOCA RATON, Fla., Sept. 14, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Energy Metal News Commentary - The constraint on American electricity is no longer whether the equipment exists. It is how long it takes to get power flowing at a particular place. The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported in February 2026 that approximately 24 gigawatts of utility-scale battery storage was planned to come online during the year, following more than 40 gigawatts added over the preceding five years. Alongside that, the Department of Energy's Office of Electricity counts more than 55,000 transmission substations across the country, and its 2026 Draft National Transmission Needs Study describes pressing transmission need driven by data centers, manufacturing and large industrial loads, with congestion concentrated in a small share of hours.

Active Companies from around the markets with current developments this week include: NOMAD Power Solutions, Inc. (Nasdaq: NMAD), GE Vernova Inc. (NYSE: GEV), Quanta Services, Inc. (NYSE: PWR), Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE: VRT), and Powell Industries, Inc. (Nasdaq: POWL).

Key Takeaways

- The binding constraint in the current buildout is time to power at a specific node, not the availability of generation or storage equipment.

- Congestion is concentrated in a small share of hours, which means a great deal of grid capacity is underused for most of the year and severely constrained for a few hundred hours of it.

- NOMAD Power Solutions, Inc. (Nasdaq: NMAD) builds mobile, utility-grade, truck-transportable battery energy storage systems deployed on semi-trailers, sold, rented or provided as Energy-as-a-Service.

- The Company's stated proposition is that a transportable asset can earn at an existing node during the years a permanent upgrade takes, then move when the local constraint is retired.

- The Company holds an issued United States patent covering utility-scale lithium-ion battery transporters, with applications pending on mobile storage systems and docking stations.

- The Company reached its present form through a July 2026 merger and has a short operating history in energy infrastructure, with substantial potential dilution disclosed in its filings.

The Wait Is the Product

A permanent grid upgrade is not one project but a sequence of them, and each stage has its own queue. Siting, permitting, interconnection study, construction and equipment lead times stack end to end. Individually none is unreasonable. Together they produce multi-year timelines that have become the defining feature of the electricity market, at exactly the moment when new load is arriving faster than at any point in decades.

The equipment side of that sequence is now measurably tight, and the clearest evidence comes from the companies that make it. Order books at the major turbine and switchgear suppliers extend years out, capacity expansions are being announced in parallel rather than in sequence, and manufacturers are describing demand as no longer the limiting factor in their own businesses. When the constraint moves from demand to delivery, the value of anything that can be delivered sooner rises independently of how good it is.

The second feature of the problem is less discussed and more useful. Congestion is not continuous. Federal transmission analysis describes it as concentrated in a small fraction of hours, which means the same node can be badly constrained on a summer afternoon and comfortably underused for most of the rest of the year. Solving a few hundred hours of constraint with a permanent asset means paying for capacity that sits idle the rest of the time, and waiting years to do it.

That is the gap a transportable asset addresses. If the constraint at a given node is temporary, or seasonal, or simply going to be resolved by an upgrade already in the pipeline, then a permanent installation is an expensive answer to a question that will change. Something that arrives quickly, earns while the constraint exists and leaves when it does not is a structurally different proposition, and it is the argument for mobility rather than scale.

A Transportable Approach to Grid Capacity

NOMAD Power Solutions, Inc. (Nasdaq: NMAD) is an energy infrastructure equipment and services platform headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida, focused on the power and infrastructure requirements of artificial intelligence, cloud computing and hyperscale data center operators alongside utilities, industrial operators and government customers. The Company introduced a mobile, utility-grade, truck-transportable battery energy storage system; its platforms are deployed on semi-trailers and reach customers through equipment sales, rentals and Energy-as-a-Service arrangements. The corporate history is set out in its July 2026 announcement of the completed name change.

The Company reached its present form in July 2026, when LIXTE Biotechnology Holdings, Inc. completed a merger with NOMAD Transportable Power Systems, Inc. Shares ceased trading under LIXT on July 2, 2026 and began trading under NMAD on July 6, 2026. The transaction expanded the Company's operations and strategic focus into energy infrastructure, which is now its primary focus. It does not represent a complete departure from the Company's biotechnology roots, and the legacy oncology and medical technology assets continue to be maintained and advanced while strategic opportunities for that portfolio are evaluated.

The operating argument rests on where the asset sits in a customer's timeline rather than on what the battery itself does. A fixed installation is designed to be permanent, which means it is designed for the constraint as it exists at the moment of commissioning. A transportable unit can be positioned at a node that is constrained now, earn while the permanent solution moves through its own multi-year sequence, and then be redeployed when the constraint is retired. Capital is recycled across nodes rather than committed to one of them.

There is a second and more prosaic advantage. Fixed, grid-tied installations generally require interconnection studies and utility approvals, a queue widely described as among the principal bottlenecks in storage deployment. A transportable unit does not enter that queue in the same way. That is a real difference in speed and flexibility, and it should be stated precisely rather than expansively: mobility avoids the fixed-installation interconnection queue. It does not remove permitting. Site, transport, fire, environmental and utility operating requirements still apply, and connecting into a distribution network still requires an approved arrangement with the utility. Anyone evaluating this model should treat a repeatable, utility-approved docking package as a requirement rather than an assumption.

On the intellectual property side, the Company holds United States patent number 12,391,084, issued August 19, 2025, covering transporters for utility-scale lithium-ion batteries, with further United States applications pending covering mobile battery energy storage systems and docking stations for them. Those records are public through the United States Patent and Trademark Office. What patent numbers establish is that filings exist and one has issued. They do not establish the scope of the claims, freedom to operate, or any conclusion about exclusivity in mobile storage, all of which are questions for counsel rather than for a reader.

NOMAD Power Solutions was added to the Russell Microcap Index in June 2026. It is a small-capitalization company with a short operating history in this sector, competing for the same customers as manufacturers and contractors many multiples its size.

There are several risks associated with the Company's plans.

NOMAD Power Solutions reached its present form through a merger completed on July 2, 2026, and its operating history in energy infrastructure dates from that transaction. The merger consideration included preferred stock convertible into approximately 50,366,070 common shares subject to stockholder approval, representing substantial potential dilution to existing holders. Building a fleet of transportable storage assets is capital intensive and would require financing that has not been secured. Mobility reduces exposure to the fixed-installation interconnection queue but does not eliminate permitting, transport, fire, environmental or utility operating requirements, and any docking arrangement into a distribution network requires utility approval that is not assured. Utility procurement cycles are long and conservative, and adoption of an unfamiliar asset class by regulated utilities may proceed slowly or not at all. The companies referenced in this article, and others, have the scale and customer relationships to develop competing mobile or modular offerings. Grid investment levels depend on regulatory decisions, rate cases and load growth that may not materialize as forecast. Readers should review the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov in full.

CONTINUED... Read this and more news for NOMAD Power Solutions, Inc. (Nasdaq: NMAD) at: https://energymetalnews.com

Others Working the Same Constraint

GE Vernova Inc. (NYSE: GEV) supplies the equipment whose lead times define the wait, and its order book is the clearest available measure of how long that wait has become.

In second quarter 2026 results reported July 22, 2026, the company reported orders of $24.2 billion, up 88% organically, revenue of $11.1 billion, up 22%, and a backlog of $176 billion. Gas Power equipment backlog and slot reservation agreements grew from 100 to 116 gigawatts during the quarter, with the company now anticipating at least 125 gigawatts under contract by year end. Electrification equipment backlog reached $44.6 billion, and data center orders exceeded $5 billion in the first half, more than double the company's total for all of 2025. Full-year guidance was raised.

The detail worth holding onto is the slot reservation agreement itself. It is a mechanism that lets a customer secure a place in a manufacturing schedule before the terms of a final order are settled. When buyers are willing to pay to hold a position in a queue, the queue has become the scarce asset. That is the market condition every other participant in this article is responding to.

Quanta Services, Inc. (NYSE: PWR) is the contractor that physically builds the transmission, substation and interconnection work that a permanent upgrade requires, which makes its backlog a direct measure of how much of that work is queued rather than complete.

Reporting second quarter 2026 results, the company recorded a backlog of approximately $53.4 billion, up roughly 50% year over year, and raised full-year 2026 guidance across revenue, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted earnings per share and free cash flow, with free cash flow guidance lifted to a range of $2.0 billion to $2.5 billion. Its debt to EBITDA ratio improved to 1.7 from 1.95 at the end of 2025, and it completed four acquisitions during the quarter for approximately $1.24 billion in upfront consideration.

A record contractor backlog is a genuinely ambiguous signal, and it is worth reading both ways. It confirms that enormous grid investment is committed, which is the demand case for everything described here. It also means that work is scheduled rather than energized, and that the labor and craft capacity to execute it is itself a constraint. Both readings support the same conclusion about time, which is that the permanent solution is coming and is not coming quickly.

Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE: VRT) supplies the physical power and thermal infrastructure inside data centers, including uninterruptible power supplies, switchgear, busways, power distribution and liquid cooling systems, which places it directly at the point where a facility's electricity requirement becomes equipment.

The company reported a backlog of approximately $12.45 billion as of March 31, 2026, an increase of roughly 80% against the same point a year earlier, and raised its full-year 2026 net sales guidance to a range of approximately $13.5 billion to $14.0 billion. Backlog of that composition reflects signed procurement orders rather than announced intentions, which is why it is watched as a near-term indicator of whether announced infrastructure commitments are converting into purchasing.

What its position illustrates for this article is the sequencing problem. Equipment inside the building can be ordered, manufactured and installed on a schedule the operator largely controls. The electricity supply into the building cannot. A data center can be fully specified, fully equipped and still unable to operate because the power at the property line is not yet available, and that mismatch is the entire reason a bridging asset has a market.

Powell Industries, Inc. (Nasdaq: POWL) builds custom-engineered equipment for the management, control and distribution of electrical energy, and its most recent quarter contains the single most instructive order in this article.

In third quarter fiscal 2026 results announced August 3, 2026, the company reported record new orders of $934 million driving backlog to a record $2.4 billion, a book-to-bill ratio of 3.0 times for the quarter, gross margin of 30.6% and a debt-free balance sheet with $634 million of liquidity. Backlog now provides project visibility through fiscal 2028.

The order itself is the point. Management described a data center award exceeding $400 million, the largest in the company's history, as phase one of a multiphase behind-the-meter design for on-site generation assets, characterising the configuration as a power island. That is a data center customer choosing to build its own electricity supply on site rather than wait for the grid to deliver it, and paying a premium in equipment content to do so. It is the same underlying judgment that makes any bridging asset valuable, expressed as a permanent capital decision rather than a temporary one.

Read together, the four describe one condition from four positions. The turbine supplier is selling places in a queue. The contractor is holding a record backlog of work not yet built. The data center equipment supplier is delivering into buildings that may not have power at the property line. And the switchgear maker is being paid to help a customer generate its own electricity rather than wait. None of that says anything about whether any particular company solves it. It does establish that the problem being described is real, expensive, and currently unsolved.

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Article Sources:

[1] U.S. Energy Information Administration, February 20, 2026: approximately 24 GW of utility-scale battery storage planned for 2026 and more than 40 GW added over the preceding five years. U.S. Department of Energy Office of Electricity: more than 55,000 transmission substations. U.S. Department of Energy 2026 Draft National Transmission Needs Study.

[2] NOMAD Power Solutions, Inc. corporate disclosures and filings, available on EDGAR at www.sec.gov. United States Patent and Trademark Office records.

[3] Public disclosures, filings and reported results of the referenced companies (GE Vernova Inc., Quanta Services, Inc., Vertiv Holdings Co and Powell Industries, Inc.) as cited in the body of this article.

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Cautionary Note Regarding Product and Deployment Claims. Product descriptions, deployment characteristics, customer categories, redeployment capability and technical capabilities referenced in this article are as described by the Company and have not been independently verified by the publisher. Statements regarding permitting describe general characteristics of fixed versus mobile deployment; mobility does not eliminate permitting, transport, fire, environmental, or utility operating and interconnection requirements applicable to any particular site, and any connection into a distribution network requires a utility-approved arrangement. No representation is made that any particular utility, node or site would accept, approve or economically support the deployment of a transportable battery energy storage system. Patent numbers referenced are drawn from public United States Patent and Trademark Office records; the scope of any claim, freedom to operate, and any conclusion regarding exclusivity are legal questions that require counsel and are not addressed here.

Cautionary Note Regarding the Merger and Capital Structure. NOMAD Power Solutions, Inc. reached its present form through a merger with NOMAD Transportable Power Systems, Inc. completed on July 2, 2026 by LIXTE Biotechnology Holdings, Inc., following which the Company changed its name effective July 3, 2026 and its trading symbol to NMAD effective July 6, 2026; shares ceased trading under the symbol LIXT at the close of market on July 2, 2026. The merger consideration included 2,992,041 shares of common stock and shares of newly authorized Series D preferred stock convertible into approximately 50,366,070 shares of common stock following receipt of stockholder approval, representing substantial potential dilution to existing holders. The Company's operating history in energy infrastructure dates from that transaction. The Company has expanded its operations and strategic focus into energy infrastructure, which is now its primary focus; this does not represent a complete departure from the Company's biotechnology roots, and the Company continues to maintain and advance its legacy oncology and medical technology assets while evaluating strategic opportunities for that portfolio. Readers should review the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov, including its periodic reports and the current reports describing the merger, in full.

Cautionary Note Regarding Grid and Market Data. Capacity, substation count, congestion and transmission-need figures attributed to the U.S. Energy Information Administration and the U.S. Department of Energy describe national conditions across the electricity system as a whole. They do not represent addressable market, addressable revenue, or any projection of results for the profiled company or any referenced company, and no inference should be drawn that any share of that capacity, spending or infrastructure is available to, or will be captured by, any company named. Planned capacity additions are forecasts that may not be realized. Grid investment depends on regulatory approvals, rate proceedings, financing and load growth that may differ materially from current expectations.

Cautionary Note Regarding Referenced Companies. References to GE Vernova Inc., Quanta Services, Inc., Vertiv Holdings Co and Powell Industries, Inc. are provided solely as market and sector context. None of them is a peer, competitor, or financial comparable of the profiled company. They are substantially larger, established, revenue-generating companies with manufacturing capacity, contracted backlog, workforce and balance sheet resources that the profiled company does not possess, and their orders, backlogs, guidance, results and share performance are not indicative of the profiled company's prospects. Backlog and order figures attributed to those companies represent contracted amounts expected to be recognised over multi-year periods rather than current revenue. Several of those companies supply equipment, construction or infrastructure into the same end markets described in this article and could develop competing offerings. None of the companies named has any involvement in the profiled company, this article, or its distribution, and no partnership, affiliation, sponsorship, or endorsement is implied. References to data center operators, hyperscalers, utilities and other counterparties described in connection with those companies relate to their own businesses only.

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Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements. This publication contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including statements regarding the deployment, redeployment and commercialization of mobile battery energy storage systems, utility and data center adoption, the addressable customer base, projections of grid capacity additions and transmission need, capital requirements, the treatment of the Company's legacy assets, and management's plans and objectives. Such statements are generally identified by words such as "plan", "project", "expect", "intend", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "designed to", "may", "could", "should" or "will". You are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual circumstances, events, or results to differ materially, including technical, engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, permitting, interconnection, regulatory, financing, dilution, competitive, listing and market risks, and other risks identified in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov. Do not place undue reliance on such statements. The forward-looking statements in this publication are made as of the date above and Energy Metal News undertakes no obligation to update them.

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